Equestrian: Patience pays off for Wilson

Vicki Wilson and Showtym Cadet MVNZ - or Cadet as Ms Wilson calls him - in action at the Taupo Christmas Classic

Patience and perseverance has paid off for Hikurangi horsewoman Vicki Wilson with her first-ever win in the UltraMox FEI World Cup class at the Taupo Christmas Classic.

The 27-year-old injured her back in late October and the ongoing pain and lengthy recuperation process has forced her to limit her riding since then. Her young horses have been turned out and she has targeted just the big shows with her three best mounts.

While she is the first to admit her 9-year-old horse Showtym Cadet MVNZ is a special horse, her original goal was just to jump the first round clear - instead, she won the class in style with two clear rounds.

"It's just awesome," said Wilson. "When we walked the course, it seemed some of it was quite technical and there were some big fences ... which was surprising considering the conditions, but that didn't even bother Cadet."

The majority of the 10-strong field jumped the Kevin Hansen-designed course well.

Wilson paid just over $500 for Cadet as a 7-year-old.

"It's a real rags-to-riches story - he could be an eventer, too, because he's got all the moves."

The only previous World Cup start the combination had didn't end as well, and in her five other starts with other mounts she has never managed a clear in that opening round.

"Once Cadet jumped that first round clear, I knew we could do it again. He just loved it out there - he'd been jumping well all weekend, and placed in both the 1.4m and 1.45m classes," Wilson said.

Now she is looking forward toward the Farmlands Horse of the Year Show and the JB Olympic Cup. The combination won six one star grand prix together last year, including the North Island championship and at Horse of the Year and this season Wilson has focused on stepping up to the bigger jumps.

Eight combinations came back for the second round, but none could match Wilson's clean slate. She also finished sixth on another mount.

Another Hikurangi rider Nakeysha Lammers, riding Waldorf, won the Country TV Christmas Classic Horse Power and Speed Championship. Hastings' Melody Matherson on Roulette was second with Natasha Lammers riding Tele-Star third. Samantha Peters on Casali finished fourth.

Napier's Olivia Ahlborn and Aorangi Ragtime beat 21 other combinations to take out the Ray Burmester Open Pony Derby 1.2m-1.3m. Auckland's Elmo Jackson finished second while Sharnaye Lammers finished tied with four other combinations for third on two mounts.